Resources

Asserts that faculty lack the continuing conversation with colleagues that could help them grow more fully into the demands of the teacher's craft. Possible reasons for the privatization of teaching; Good teaching as more than technique; Topics for talk about good teaching; Ground rules for creative conversation; More.

Reflects on the reasons for the lack of changes in theological seminaries. Complaints on the roots of traditional curricula in precritical assumption; Effect of religion's conservative shift on the mood of theological schools; Pressures on theological schools to offer an education that is perceived to be of high quality.

The prevailing notion of integration of college teaching and research is more myth than reality. To make the relationship more productive, educators must change the terms, redefine research, and reorient thinking about teaching, understanding that teaching and research are distinct and not automatically linked. Institutions must implement policies reflecting broader definitions of research and more intellectual orientations to teaching.

Intended to help individuals as well as companies thrive in a working world made up of increasingly diverse work forces and ever more competitive markets, this book addresses the differences in men's and women's speaking styles, without maintaining the superiority of any one style of speaking. Reinforced with extensive examples drawn from research, the book offers new ways of understanding what happens in the workplace, ranging from the simplest exchanges to the most complex contemporary issues of the glass ceiling and sexual harassment. The book notes that sex differences exist even in the college classroom, where men and women exhibit different behavior in learning situations--men ask fewer questions but interrupt others more often in traditional classrooms and often find themselves designated as "spokesperson" in small group class discussions even when they are outnumbered by women. Chapters in the book are: (1) Women and Men Talking on the Job; (2) "I'm Sorry, I'm Not Apologizing": Conversational Rituals; (3) "Why Don't You Say What You Mean?": Indirectness at Work; (4) Marked: Women in the Workplace; (5) The Glass Ceiling; (6) "She's the Boss": Women and Authority; (7) Talking Up Close: Status and Connection; (8) What's Sex Got to Do with It?; and (9) Who Gets Heard?: Talking at Meetings. The book includes both a preface and an afterword by the author, as well as extensive notes and references.

This essay is an introduction to postmodernism and deconstruction as they relate to the special challenges of scholarship and teaching in the science and religion multidiscipline.

The politics of pedagogy when teaching for belief in culturally diverse settings inevitably draws attention to the power dynamics in the encounters of teachers and students. The quest for a pedagogy that is not oppressive or coercive provides the impetus to liberative proposal for teaching practice.

Contact the Ideas Center for a pdf. Techniques for observing the classroom behavior of teachers and students are examined. These techniques provide a framework for analyzing and understanding classroom interaction, for making decisions about what should be happening, and for changing instructional behavior when it is necessary. The observation methods allow collection, analysis, and presentation of accurate, objective, useful, and persuasive data. Persuasive data contain no value judgments. One method is the selective verbatim technique, which involves having the observer record what is actually said within the confines of a category previously specified by the teacher. Some common categories for selective verbatim include: teacher questions, teacher responses to student statements, teacher directions and assignments, teacher responses to questions, verbal mannerisms, teacher reward and praise statements, teacher criticism, student responses to teacher questions, student questions, and student initiated statements. Examples are presented as illustration. A seating chart can be the basis for several types of informal records about the teachers' and students' classroom behavior. It is primarily used to measure nonverbal behavior, but it is sometimes useful for measuring verbal behavior. The basic element is a diagram, examples of which are included. Seating charts are useful for analyzing "at task" behavior: data indicating whether or not individual students were engaged in the task or tasks the teacher indicated were appropriate. A verbal flow chart is one way of analyzing how classroom procedures inhibit, encourage, or allow students to participate in classroom interactions. A list of common teaching activities and a technique for recording them for analysis is included.

Although listening has been shown to be the most frequent communication activity, and students desperately need listening training, the educational system usually ignores listening. After citing 10 bad listening habits which interfere with good aural communication and describing the characteristics of effective listeners, this paper offers 12 listening exercises that can be used by instructors in a wide variety of academic fields. Finally, the paper briefly describes a successful listening course taught at St. Edward's University in Austin, Texas, and its impact over the last 10 years. Thirteen references are attached.

(Text not available on web.) This paper focuses on methods to improve the reading abilities of college students. A list of five elements college instructors (who are not reading specialists) should establish in a content reading agenda is offered; (1) an instructional basis for the reading process which will work for them; (2) content literacy environments; (3) insights into the skill level characteristics of readers; (4) working relationships with the campus reading program; and (5) inclusion of reading strategies in their content instruction. Stating that students must know the purpose of the course and understand what is to be done with the information provided through lectures and textbook reading assignments to successfully interact with the text, the paper offers methods of establishing the five elements suggested. Also addressed are the unique challenges of social science, mathematical, and scientific reading instruction. The paper concludes with a brief summary and suggestions for collaboration between the content specialist and the reading staff.